Everyone remembers the beauty of moving to Edinburgh and finding out they get free bus travel through the wonders of the Young Scot card. What’s not to love about frequent travel far and wide that saves you an absolute fortune, and helps you bond with your flatmates when someone’s card finally arrives in the post? Until one day, you attempt to use it at 3am, still tipsy, and get shouted at by an (understandably) overtired bus driver. Ever since then, you dread the clock striking twelve as the beautiful carriage turns into a pumpkin and that ‘N’ appears in front of the 30, when you have to fork out half your daily allowance on a bus besides the fact you could have walked for free if you had just stuck it out twenty more minutes with your friends.
Night buses run from 12am-4:30am, Monday to Sunday. Despite the large student population in Edinburgh, there is also no additional discount. A flat rate of £3.50 per single makes them £1.10 more than day fares, an increase difficult for all adults on a budget to swallow. At nighttime it is most pressing to get young people home safely without worry and to avoid running into trouble in the dark. Charging people during rush hour is much more sustainable, as you can keep costs low and profits high, and students could avoid this fee by walking to classes in the morning light. Putting the burden of profit on young people (who are the main consumers of nighttime services) seems illogical. Walking home from New Town to Newington at 3:30am in the middle of November in a hail storm when all the buses decide not to show up anyway is probably not the time to scrimp and scrape.
For all those who have attempted to convince me that paying for night buses is in fact a good thing, I am here to tell you otherwise. A March 2026 article published by the University of Edinburgh itself estimated that living costs for this academic year will total £1,546 per month, banking on the fact that bus travel is free. Whether or not you believe students should be gallivanting around late at night, they pump our city full of money. With four significantly sized universities full of students being repaid with crazy capital city prices, the least we can do is not punish them for keeping night culture alive and relieve them of spending an extra £15 per week!
With wait times and prices for taxi hire through the roof, buses are the only logical and safe alternative for young people after work or a night out. Night buses should incentivise young people to contribute to the council by paying a small fee and keep the city safe. I think I speak for the majority of students when I say I feel incredibly lucky to live in a city that provides such frequent travel. Regretfully, I have to add I would be much more willing to give back to the city regularly if only a more affordable nighttime service was on offer.
Image by Mark Chan for The Student.
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Night bus fees continue to drive up student costs
Everyone remembers the beauty of moving to Edinburgh and finding out they get free bus travel through the wonders of the Young Scot card. What’s not to love about frequent travel far and wide that saves you an absolute fortune, and helps you bond with your flatmates when someone’s card finally arrives in the post? Until one day, you attempt to use it at 3am, still tipsy, and get shouted at by an (understandably) overtired bus driver. Ever since then, you dread the clock striking twelve as the beautiful carriage turns into a pumpkin and that ‘N’ appears in front of the 30, when you have to fork out half your daily allowance on a bus besides the fact you could have walked for free if you had just stuck it out twenty more minutes with your friends.
Night buses run from 12am-4:30am, Monday to Sunday. Despite the large student population in Edinburgh, there is also no additional discount. A flat rate of £3.50 per single makes them £1.10 more than day fares, an increase difficult for all adults on a budget to swallow. At nighttime it is most pressing to get young people home safely without worry and to avoid running into trouble in the dark. Charging people during rush hour is much more sustainable, as you can keep costs low and profits high, and students could avoid this fee by walking to classes in the morning light. Putting the burden of profit on young people (who are the main consumers of nighttime services) seems illogical. Walking home from New Town to Newington at 3:30am in the middle of November in a hail storm when all the buses decide not to show up anyway is probably not the time to scrimp and scrape.
For all those who have attempted to convince me that paying for night buses is in fact a good thing, I am here to tell you otherwise. A March 2026 article published by the University of Edinburgh itself estimated that living costs for this academic year will total £1,546 per month, banking on the fact that bus travel is free. Whether or not you believe students should be gallivanting around late at night, they pump our city full of money. With four significantly sized universities full of students being repaid with crazy capital city prices, the least we can do is not punish them for keeping night culture alive and relieve them of spending an extra £15 per week!
With wait times and prices for taxi hire through the roof, buses are the only logical and safe alternative for young people after work or a night out. Night buses should incentivise young people to contribute to the council by paying a small fee and keep the city safe. I think I speak for the majority of students when I say I feel incredibly lucky to live in a city that provides such frequent travel. Regretfully, I have to add I would be much more willing to give back to the city regularly if only a more affordable nighttime service was on offer.
Does it have to hinge on Hinge?
Image by Mark Chan for The Student.
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